Texas Courts Open Eviction Floodgates: 'We Just Stepped Off A Cliff'
https://www.npr.org/2021/04/07/984837886...ped-off-a-cliff
April 7, 20215:01 AM ET
Heard on Morning Edition
Chris Arnold


The Texas state supreme court has allowed an emergency order to expire. Housing groups warn that could result in thousands of people losing their homes to eviction. Tenants' rights advocates, like those pictured here in Boston, have pushed for stronger protections for renters during the pandemic.

The Texas state court system is signaling that it will no longer enforce a federal order aimed at stopping evictions during the coronavirus pandemic. That could clear the way for landlords to push ahead with tens of thousands of eviction cases that have been on hold.

The timing could be particularly painful for many families, coming after Congress has approved billions of dollars to help people pay the rent they owe to avoid eviction, but before the vast majority of renters have been able to receive any of that money.

Legal aid attorneys are raising the alarm that the state is about to allow a wave of people to be put out of their homes, with no place to go.

"We've had a failure of leadership that's going to result in tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of Texans becoming homeless in relatively short order," says Mark Melton, who heads up a pro bono team of 175 volunteer lawyers in Dallas.

"It's devastating," says Christiane Daugherty, a 60-year-old technology consultant who lost her job last year when COVID-19 hit.-- excerpt, rest at link above --

OK, first off, it's from NPR, so it is progressively slanted, obviously.

But, this is a disaster. So many people have lost their jobs, and many of those jobs are permanently gone, because of CCP Flu reaction. No question. They have been lulled into inaction by things such as bans on evictions for non-payment of rent.

Additionally, so many people have lost their savings and incomes because of bans on evictions for non-payment. And, I note, that while proposed, there were no equivalent bans on rental property taxes during this time period, so they had to pay taxes without being able to collect rent.

And, maybe instead of hiring lawyers, they could have helped people out with rent payments.

Landlords Struggling To Stay Afloat See Lifeline In COVID-19 Relief For Renters
https://www.npr.org/2021/03/17/977441157...ief-for-renters
March 17, 20215:00 AM ET
Heard on Morning Edition
Chris Arnold


Landlord Stephanie Graves walks to the main office at one of her properties in Houston with a resident. She's going door to door offering to help residents apply for rental assistance money approved by Congress that's just starting to flow to landlords and tenants.
Stephanie Graves

Nearly 10 million Americans are behind on their rent payments, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And Stephanie Graves is seeing that play out first hand. She's a landlord in the Houston area and says tenants in most of her buildings are struggling.

"I have a small property in town," she says. "It's about 22 units and eight residents have not been able to pay over 6 months on and off." She says she might get a $100 partial payment on a $1,000 rent.

Graves says she isn't evicting any tenants who try to pay what they can and stay in touch with her. But that means she's losing money — the rents coming in don't cover her mortgage payments and paying the staff.

"Then we had the freeze in Houston and the hot water heater gave out." Graves says that meant a $22,000 investment with no income. "I worry, how am I going to pay that loan if this goes on for much longer?"

Graves says a bigger property she manages for another owner is hundreds of thousands of dollars behind on revenue with all the unpaid rent and COVID-19 related costs. "It's scary," she says. "It's a scary situation"-- excerpt, rest at link above --